Light dies, but in order to get into Heaven, Light must save one life for each life he took as Kira. But with angels, shinigami, a nine to five desk job, and a new Kira on the loose....he's going to need L's help. AU.

A/N:
wow! so many reviews! I'm so glad you guys like the story, and I'm
v. v. glad it's interesting. i would respond to all of you guys
individually, but it would take a while and i do want to get right to
the story. I think this chapter turned out pretty well, hope you guys
like it!

"Wow,
didn't expect for him to go out like this." Ryuk chuckled. He was
standing over Raito Yagami's unconscious figure. The teen was
sprawled on the kitchen floor with blood pooling around his head.

Raito
had always been so careful about death. He looked twice before he
crossed the street, he didn't jaywalk, he always had a bath mat
laid in his shower so he wouldn't slip, and he always picked up ice
off the floor. The teen hadn't exactly feared death, but he was
always so careful.

Honestly,
Ryuk hadn't expected him to die like this. It was so out of
character. It was a shame too. Raito had always been so amusing. But
Ryuk suspected this wouldn't be the end for Raito Yagami. So he
gently plucked the cell phone from the teens pocket and dialed a
number.

"Tenshi
transportation services." A receptionist answered. "If you are an
elite customer please enter the password."

The
password was known to every shinigami, of course, although they
rarely used this line.

"One
moment please." The receptionist said cheerily.

There
was a dial tone as Ryuk was put on hold. The shinigami glanced down
at Raito again. He would die in about five minutes if he kept
bleeding at that rate. Elevator music floated through the phone and
Ryuk sighed impatiently, tapping on hand against the counter top.

There
was another dial tone and a female voice snapped, "Hell, Ryuk, it
took him long enough!"

"No
need to be so impatient," Ryuk chuckled.

"It's
been six days! Is he dead, yet?"

Ryuk
glanced down at Raito, "He will be in about five minutes."

"Well,
finally. Things have been such a wreck up here!" She sighed. "That
damn kid has got us so backed up in paperwork!"

"Really?"
Ryuk asked, he liked Miranda, for a Tenshi she was very amusing,
although she had a nasty temper.

"Well
all those criminals he killed went straight to hell and they didn't
have a chance to repent or anything! We've got so many trial
request from them, I think we're backed up for the next hundred
years at least!"

The
shinigami chuckled, "I know those High-Tenshi hate being clumped
all together."

"This
is the most they've seen of each other since World War Two! They
hate each other!"

"But
for a trail you need all nine of them, correct?"

"Yeah,
and they have trails scheduled almost daily for the next century at
least! You are so lucky I managed to fit Raito in. Most of them want
to send that kid straight to hell!"

"He's
not a bad kid." Ryuk protested.

"His
personal death count is ten thousand and counting! Ten thousand!
They're trying to get Kira listed in the black books as one of the
greatest disasters of human history!"

"Black
books!" The shinigami laughed. "C'mon, he hasn't killed that
many, you've got guys like Hitler and Stalin listed in those
books."

"Do
you know how many inmate suicides Kira has caused?! We still don't
even have a total for him! There's also people killing in the name
of Kira. You know how we do things up here, even if it's some other
guy doing the killings, if he's doing it in the name of Kira, those
deaths are still attributed to Kira."

Ryuk
frowned, "You got him a trail right?"

"Yeah,
Raito Yagami a.k.a. Kira, scheduled for tomorrow at midnight. You
want me to get you a pass?"

"You
haven't let a shinigami into heaven since Christ died."

"I
know, but the High-Tenshi said it's okay and I know you like the
kid." her voice softened and then she added teasingly, "You can
sit with me--that way you won't get shy around all the other
Tenshi."

"I
do not get shy!"

She
just laughed. "Yeah, right. Oh! I forgot to tell you!"

"What?"
Ryuk asked.

"Wait
till you hear who signed on to defend Raito at his trial!"

"who?"

"L!"

"L
Lawliet! The guy who was trying to catch Kira!"

Miranda
giggled, "Yeah! Isn't that sweet!"

"It's
sort of weird, he was always talking about getting Kira the death
penalty."

"Well
he likes Raito, he asked to be there with him till his trial. And the
High-Tenshi will give that guy anything he wants. They're
attributing Kira's death to him, you know."

"Oh,"
Ryuk glanced at the teen bleeding out on the floor again, thirty
seconds, "Hang on, I need to write Raito in the Death Note." The
shinigami flipped open his Death Note on the kitchen counter and
quickly scribbled Raito's name in it. "Raito Yagami," He said
as he wrote. After a few seconds he said, "did you get it?"

There
was a pause and then Miranda answered, "Yeah, he's dead. It's
in the log. Slipped on an ice cub? Well, that's a lame way to go
out." Then her voice softened. "He made the right choice."

"You
really did tell him too much that time you visited, you know."

"Oh,
shut up, Ryuk. He's the only human I've visited in the whole
century. I think he deserved a warning, don't you?"

"No."

"You're
so heartless, he's a good kid. I hope the trial goes well."

"Me
too, it'll be boring if they just sentence him to hell. He's so
amusing."

Miranda
sighed, "He really did make the right choice...if only he'd made
it sooner."

"You
know how humans are."

"I
do."

"You
did what you could for him," Ryuk insisted, "He's a stubborn
kid."

"I
know. I just wish he hadn't found that Death Note."

"Well
I had fun."

She
said sarcastically, "Yeah, well he didn't."

"It'll
turn out fine."

"I
hope so."

"Alright,"
Ryuk sighed, "So you'll meet me at the gates?"

"Yeah,
sure, come at 11:30 though, we need to get a good seat," Miranda
said.

"Okay,
see you then." The shinigami hung up and dropped the cell phone on
the counter. He took one last glance at the body of Raito Yagami,
"I'll see you tomorrow night. You're in for a nasty surprise."
He murmured. Then the shinigami unfurled his wings and took flight.
He had to go brag to the others that he was going to get a pass up to
Heaven for Kira's trial. It was going to be interesting, that's
for sure. Raito always was.

XXX

It
was incredibly bright when Raito opened his eyes. For a second all he
saw was white, bright white. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust
to the bright light. When they did, Raito realized that, wherever he
was, everything was white. He lay sprawled on his back and stiffly,
the teen leaned onto his elbows and looked around.

There
was a dark speck against all that white.

It
was a table, a black wrought iron table, appropriate for a patio or a
garden. It was decorated with an ornate tea pot and two delicate
china cups, it was also fitted with two matching chairs. There was a
tray of sugar cookies which were covered in heavy pink frosting.
Raito absent-mindedly noticed that L would've loved those cookies.
In fact he was sitting at the table, delicately nibbling at one.

The
teen got to his feet and took a shaky step towards the table. Ryuzaki
would know where they were. He body was oddly stiff, it felt as
though he was using it for the first time in a while. Raito tried to
remember what he had just been doing, but instead frowned. He
couldn't remember anything.

The
only thing that came to mind was the fact that L was dead.

But
that had happened a while ago.

Hadn't
it?

Wait,
L was dead. Raito froze, blinked, and stared at the figure at the
table. Pale skin, big eyes, dark circles, messy hair, white shirt,
jeans, curled up in chair with knees at chin. That was L.

"Yes.
Come have a cookie." L responded, lapping the frosting with his
tongue like a cat with a saucer of milk.

"But,"
The teen ran a hand through his hair, scratching his scalp, "You're
dead," His amber eyes widened, "Kira got you! Ryuzaki, it was
Kira!" He looked around frantically, all he saw in any direction
was white. "Ryuzaki!"

"Raito-kun,
please sit down."

"But
Kira! Ryuzaki, if he got you, what if he gets all of us! Where's
the task force! Is dad okay?!" Raito insisted in a frenzied voice.
His eyes were wide and he was looked around desperately. "Wait,
where are we?"

L
finally looked up from his cookie and met Raito's eyes, "Raito-kun,
just sit down and I'll explain."

"But
Kira---"

"We
don't have to worry about Kira anymore." He said in an oddly
heavy voice. "Just come sit."

Nervously,
Raito stumbled over to the table and sat down heavily in the chair.
He kept shifting, the iron was cold and he couldn't find a
comfortable position. Swallowing hard, the teen finally brought one
knee to his chest and rested his chin on it. His eyes were feverish
and bright, swiveling around as though he expected Kira to appear.
"Where are we?" He wasn't looking at L when he said it.

L
was worried. "You're dead."

Raito
frowned, "That's impossible. You died and then I...I..." He
trailed off.

"I
died six days ago. You've been dead for six minutes."

"No!
I'm not dead!" Raito snapped. "I can't be dead! One of us has
to catch kira."

L
sighed heavily and took a delicate bite of his cookie. He was
regarding Raito with bright, worried eyes. The teen was breathing
faster than usual and his face was flushed. "I told Raito-kun,
Kira is no longer a threat."

"Of
course he is! He's out there!"

The
detective exhaled harshly, "You are kira."

Raito
froze, "That's insane. I've been handcuffed to you for months.
I couldn't have--"

"Raito-kun
has spent the last six days writing names in his Death Note." L
said, his voice forcibly bland and neutral.

"I
have not! What are you talking about?!"

L
noticed that Raito's breathing was becoming more erratic.
"Raito-kun is Kira, there is no other way to say it."

"No!
No, this is one of your games!" The teen shoved himself away from
the table, and scrambled to his feet. The chair fell with a gentle
thud. He looked around frantically. L was still couched in his chair,
watching Raito like one watches a wild animal.

"Raito-kun,
please sit down."

The
chestnut-haired teen laughed desperately, "Okay, the jokes over,
where're the cameras!" He was looking around frantically. Then he
snarled at L, "Where did you hide them!"

"There
are no cameras Raito-kun."

"No!"
The teen hissed, "This is one of your sick games! We're
underground somewhere, and you...you faked your death! This is all
just a game! You're trying to get me to admit I'm kira!"
Raito's voice raised to a scream, "I'm not!"

L
opened his mouth to speak.

"Shut
up!" Raito's snarled, "Don't you fucking move! I know you
have cameras! Where are they?!" The teen swung an arm across the
table, shoving all the china onto the floor where it shattered. "Tell
me!"

The
teen backed away from L, starring at him with wide frantic eyes. Then
he turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

L
sighed and rubbed his face with one hand, "silly, Raito-kun." He
sat crouched in his chair and waited for Raito-kun to realize that
this room was in an endless loop. It was a holding cell for criminals
to wait in before their trials in the court of heaven. A loud yelp
from over his shoulder alerted L to Raito's presence.

Raito
had tried running away from L and now he was starring at the back of
the detectives head. This room...it was a loop. He tried running
another direction. He ran frantically and then stopped. He glanced
around, panting, and realized that he was in the same exact position.
He was trapped.

The
table was all set up again. The china was fixed, the cookies were
arranged, L was still nibbling at one.

"W-w-what
did you do?" Raito whispered. "Where are we! What the fuck did
you do to me!" He was screaming now, arms wrapped around his
heaving torso. "You drugged me!"

"You're
dead!" L hissed. "Stop screaming and sit down, Raito-kun!"

"No!
no, no, no, no, no! I can't be dead--I can't! This is a joke,
it's another game! We can't be--Kira!"

"You
are Kira!" The detective repeated. Raito opened his mouth in
indignation. L cut him off by hurling something at him. It landed
with a small thud at Raito's feet. "That's your fucking Death
Note." L snarled.

The
teen blinked. He'd never heard L curse before. Gingerly, he picked
up the notebook and flipped through it. "It can't be," The teen
whispered. This was his handwriting. "You made this up! This
is...it has to be a fake."

"I'm
Kira?" The teen whispered. He flipped through the notebook. It was
his handwriting. He'd written these names like Higuchi had. He was
Kira...he was the real Kira. The pages became a blur of names. Twenty
three lines per page, two columns per page, every page filled with
names. They were dead. How many names were in this book? "But Kira
killed you," Raito's voice cracked.

L
opened his mouth to speak, but his lips couldn't quiet wrap
themselves around the words. He couldn't think of anything to say.
He tried to open his mouth again and promptly shut it, pressing his
lips tightly together.

This
was horrible. Raito really hadn't known. The teen was shaking, his
eyes were wide and frantic and lit by terror. With every page that
passed his eyes, they seemed to widen and his breathing seemed to
grow more erratic. Raito was in pain and L could see it. He wanted to
say something, anything to make that pain stop. For some reason it
hurt L to see Raito like this. "Raito-kun," L said gently, "Just
put it down."

The
teen's grip on the book tightened. "I did this."

L
sighed, "Raito--"

"All
of them, they're all dead." Raito's voice was steadily rising.

"Just
come and sit down, Rai--"

"It's
my fault!"

"Stop--"

"I
killed them! I killed them all, I killed you!" The teen was
screaming, his throat was raw and there were tears on his cheeks.
"I'm a-a--a murderer! I'm kira!"

He
threw the notebook down and scrambled over to the table. L lifted a
hand and then stopped midway through the motion--a pat on the
shoulder wasn't really going to help Raito. The detective watched
as Raito slammed a teacup down on the table and picked up a pointed
shard. L's fingers curled into a tight fist and he brought it under
his chin.

Raito
stabbed the shard into his wrist and yanked it across his pale flesh.
A thin red line appeared on his flesh. The teen watched his skin with
frenzied eyes, waiting for blood to bubble forth. L bit his thumb. He
knew what would come next.

No
blood came.

The
thin red line lightened until it was just skin on the teen's wrist.
Raito chest heaved as he took short, shaky breaths. "Why?" he
whimpered.

"You're
dead. You can't die again."

"No!"
Raito screamed. "I have to! I'm Kira!"

"Yes."

"I
have to be punished! I'm a murderer! I killed them! They're all
dead! I'm Kira, I'm kira, I'm kira!" He shrieked, plunging
the shard of china into his flesh again and again. He messily slashed
at his wrists, his hands trembling harder and harder each time those
thin red lines faded.

L
winced and exhaled harshly, "Stop it, Raito-kun."

"Kira,
kira, I'm Kira." Raito repeated to himself, eyes impossibly wide.
He was in shock, punctuating each 'kira' with another slash.

L
protested with soft words, he was trying to calm Raito down. It was
having the opposite effect. Each time he spoke, Raito's voice rose
until he was screaming and clawing at his face with his nails, making
little red marks on his cheeks that quickly faded. L was at a loss,
he had no idea what the right thing to do or say was.

Raito
picked up the tea pot and bashed it against his skull.

The
detective flew from his chair and came around the table. That was it,
fucking hell, it was hurting him just to watch. Raito grabbed the
tray of cookies and it looked like he was going to hit himself with
that too.

L
grabbed one of Raito's wrists and yanked it away from the tray.
"Raito, stop, you're scaring me!"

It
wasn't just the sound of his name from L's lips without the
honorific, that made Raito stop and blink. It was the admission of an
emotion from those lips coupled with the panic in L's voice and the
fear in his eyes.

Raito's
eyes rolled back in his head and trembled violently. He fell to his
hands and knees and clutched his stomach. The teen shook and made
retching sounds, he was dry heaving. He was dead, there was nothing
in his stomach for his body to throw up.

L
crouched beside Raito and waited for the teen's body to stop
shaking. The detective gnawed on his thumb until the digit bled.

Raito
shook for a while. He stayed on his hands and knees for a while,
staring at the white floor and trying to catch his breath. Words
replayed themselves in his mind; words like kira, dead, L, and Death
Note. He couldn't breath. He was trying, he was trying really hard,
but his head felt so light and his eyes couldn't focus. He shut his
eyes and fell hard onto his chin. The feeling of the impact was vague
as the world drifted out of focus and he was enveloped in blessed
darkness.

XXX

"So...I'm
dead?"

L
nodded, offering Raito a cookie. "We're both dead."

"Okay."
The teen said calmly. He knew L was watching him, the detective
probably thought he would fly off the handle again. He felt much
better since waking up. His head was pounding and he still felt
shaky, but in all honesty he was too exhausted for any hysterics.
Raito delicately nibbled at the edges of his cookie, watching as tiny
crumbs fell onto his lap. He noticed he had been wearing the same
pants since the day L died.

"You're
Kira." L said in a carefully neutral voice.

Raito
paused and nodded, taking another bite of the cookie. Then he looked
up at L with grave eyes, "Are you positive?"

"Beyond
any doubt."

The
teen nodded slowly. "I guess you were right all along about me."
He buried his face in his hands and moaned, "Oh god."

L
frowned gently and regarded the cookie in his hands. "Not exactly.
I suspect that your behavior as Kira was influenced by the death
note. Without it, you obviously wouldn't have had the means to
kill, but I also suspect that it...warps the user in some way."

"How
so?" Raito mumbled.

"You're
a fantastic actor, Raito-kun." L said bluntly. "I noticed that
first about you. I'm usually very keen about that sort of thing,
but you had me stumped for a while. Your reaction before was genuine.
I know firstly because Raito-kun wanted to catch Kira as badly as I
did--"

"But
I'm kira!"

"From
now on we will call the Raito-kun who was in possession of the Death
Note Kira and you will simply be Raito-kun. There are subtle
personality differences between you two."

L
bit his thumb, "Kira was a sociopath, yes. He was willing to kill
anybody who got in his way. He justified everything with his very
warped sense of justice. Raito-kun, you do have a
rather...um...immature conception of good and evil. I believe that
without the death note, you would have never murdered anybody--in
fact I'm sure of it. But I suspect the death note warped your
psyche in some way that allowed you to justify the murder of
criminals."

"Oh,"
Raito sighed. "That still doesn't help me at all. I still am
responsible for the murder of--"

"Ten
thousand and counting."

Raito
started to tremble.

L
sighed and tried to ignore the hyperventilating teen sitting across
from him. "The second thing that leads me to suspect that Raito-kun
is a distinct from Kira is your reaction to seeing your death note.
That was Raito-kun's genuine emotional breakdown, not Kira."

"How
can you be sure?" The chestnut haired teen whimpered.

"Because
Kira was exceedingly pragmatic. His safety came before everything
else. He would never have tried to hurt himself."

"I
deserve to die."

"You
are dead."

Raito
didn't know how to respond. "So I am schizophrenic?"

"Not
exactly. The kira personality was shaped by the death note, it's
well documented that users of the death note are influenced by it."

"Really?"
Amber eyes lit up and looked at L with a childish enthusiasm.

"Did
you think you were the first human to use a death note?"

"Well
no, but--"

"I've
been researching others. All of them, every single one, changed after
finding the death note. Although none of them have ever used the
death note like you have, some killed hundreds. Before finding the
death note they had never committed any sort of crime, perfectly
innocent. But afterwards, they were able to murder."

"But,
wait. It's hard to prove that someone was murdered with a death
note. Maybe the fact that they couldn't be caught and put on trial
made them feel empowered enough to kill. You could argue that the
Death Note simply gives humans a means to murder without
consequence--that the desire to kill is in the human heart all
along." Raito argued. His eyes were wide and haunted.

"True,
but there is more evidence, Raito-kun. Have a cookie."

The
teen did as he was told and picked up a cookie.

L
continued. "I have testimony from friends and shinigami that the
users suffered a distinct personality shift after finding the death
note. They usually became very Kira like, suspicious, pragmatic,
burdened, and megalomanic. In addition--"

"L,
why did you do all this?" Raito asked.

"Do
what, Raito-kun?"

"Look
up other death note users, hypothesize why Kira--I did it. Why are
you doing all this? You're acting like a lawyer or something."

L
frowned, "Well essentially, I am your lawyer."

"Why?
For what?"

The
detective began to chew on his thumb, "Well, your trial is
scheduled for midnight tomorrow."

"I'm
being tried!" Raito gasped, "You mean as Kira...But we're
dead." The teen lowered his eyes in thought. Those amber orbs
suddenly jerked upwards to meet L's. "We're in heaven...and I'm
going to be tried and then they'll decide wether to send me to
heaven or hell."

"Basically."
L shrugged.

"...I'm
going to hell." Raito groaned. He brought his knees to his chest
and wrapped his arms around them. "Oh god," the teen whimpered
over and over again.

"Well
they might find you--"

"Innocent?"
Raito snapped. "I'm guilty! You have all the Goddamn evidence you
need! I'm Kira and there is no jury in heaven or hell that will
find me innocent."

"You
are kira and you are guilty beyond a doubt. But...Raito-kun, you
aren't evil. You regret your crimes and you--you only killed them
because of the Death Note! Tell me what you remember about using it."

The
teen shrugged, "I just thought that I was doing good--that I was
helping. I was just, I think the day before I found it I...I can't
remember." He could vaguely remember a woman telling him something,
she was saying something important. "But I know I wanted to help. I
didn't do it for selfish reasons...But I guess it's true,the road
to hell is paved with good intentions. At least, mine is."

"Intentions
do count, Raito-kun. You did have only the best intentions when you
started to use the Death Note. And by using it, it warped you." L
said slowly. "We do have a case. You certainly won't be admitted
to heaven, but I think we can argue that you deserve a second
chance."

Raito
snarled, "But I don't. You can't just blame the whole Goddamn
thing on the Death Note. I willingly used it, I killed people--I'm
as evil as Kira! Kira grew from some darkness inside of me. It's
not right to say that Kira is separate from Raito and call it a day.
It's not right. I thought you believed in justice above all else, I
deserve to be sent to hell, don't I?!"

The
detective regarded the flushed teen and sighed. "Maybe if I didn't
know you. Then yes, I'd send you straight to hell."

L
regarded him with cool eyes, "That's your idea of justice. Not
mine."

Raito
groaned and shut his eyes, "Just stop talking!"

"During
the trail Raito-kun will have time to address the court. What will
you say?" The teen tugged on a piece of his hair and slowly said,
"Something true, something I really believe in. I won't lie,
we're past lies and acts at this point."

"Perfect.
We'll get to change before the trial too. I'll be wearing a suit
and I found one for you too. We can't leave this holding cell until
11 tomorrow night--well Raito-kun can't, I can. And I have my
argument written and organized so--"

"Wait
you can leave?"

L
nodded.

Raito
glanced around, this place was like hell. "Then why don't you?"

"I
thought Raito-kun might get lonely."

The
teen rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah yeah. So seriously, how'd you
get stuck defending me? Is it like repentance of some kind?"

"Actually
they're offering me a spot in heaven, they're attributing the
death of Kira to me, so I can have whatever I want. It was almost
impossible getting you a trial, most of the angels wanted to send you
straight to hell."

"Tenshi?!"
Raito gasped. "They're real?"

L
nodded, "Stubborn assholes. I think I argued your case to them for
four hours straight. But they're letting you have a trial and I
insisted on defending you."

The
teen cocked his head to the left, "So why'd you do it?"

"Because
Raito-kun is my friend."

A/N:
ahahah, hope that chapter wasn't too confusing. But just to
summarize:

The
fortune teller lady is actually an angel (tenshi) named Miranda who
is friendly with ryuk and works in heaven. Raito is having a trial
(in the next chapter) and L is defending him. And there are nine high
angels (arch angels in christian mythology i guess (not sure if
there's really nine or not, but in my story there's gonna be
nine)) who will ultimately decide if Raito goes to heaven or hell.

hope everything sort of makes
sense and nothings to convoluted.

reviews:)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.